ACE HIRES RESPECTED PHYSICIAN AS IT LEADS HEALTH AND FITNESS PROFESSIONALS INTO GREATER INVOLVEMENT IN FIGHT AGAINST OBESITY

Respected pediatrician, registered dietitian will bolster ACE efforts to position well-qualified health and fitness professionals as a provider of healthcare interventions that are early, affordable, accessible

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Dec. 5, 2013) – American Council on Exercise (ACE) has named Natalie Digate Muth, MD, MPH, RD, FAAP, to the position of Healthcare Solutions Director. Dr. Muth will bolster ACE efforts to help make health coaches, personal trainers, group fitness instructors, and advanced health and fitness specialists play a more central role in a healthcare system that is increasingly focused on cost-effective primary prevention. Dr. Muth joins ACE as a full-time senior-level employee following years of service to the organization as a consultant and subject-matter expert.

“ACE is very serious about securing an invitation for the professionals we certify and serve to the broader healthcare table,” said ACE President and CEO Scott Goudeseune. “Dr. Muth will play a critical role in our efforts to prepare well-qualified, ACE-certified health and fitness professionals to contribute to the prevention and treatment of obesity and its co-morbidities. And she’ll be pivotal to our work to evolve the systems and environments that are shaping the nation’s response to the obesity epidemic so that our profession may contribute in a far more integral, substantive way.”Dr. Muth said, “As the medical community and the U.S. healthcare system shift towards the delivery of value-based and patient-centered care, NCCA-certified health and fitness professionals can play an important role in helping patients live their most fit, healthy lives. Too often, our professionals are missing from the prescription for better health. ACE intends to change that.”

Dr. Muth is a board-certified pediatrician at Pediatric Medical Associates in Vista, CA, a registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, and an ACE-certified health coach. Author of "Eat Your Vegetables!" and Other Mistakes Parents Make: Redefining How to Raise Healthy Eaters, she is widely recognized for her expertise in, nutrition, fitness and obesity prevention and treatment. Dr. Muth has been an ACE-certified professional since 1998 and was a senior healthcare strategist for ACE prior to her promotion.

About ACE Since 1985, American Council on Exercise (ACE) has evolved from a small nonprofit dedicatedto educating people about proper fitness to a 50,000-strong network of certified Personal Trainers, Health Coaches, Group Fitness Instructors, and Advanced Health and Fitness Specialists. As the largest NCCA-accredited nonprofit fitness certification organization in the world, ACE provides quality continuing education to professionals and conducts independent science-based research to protect all Americans from unsafe and ineffective products. Our goal is to inspire people to live their most fit lives through free health and fitness resources including workouts, nutrition information and expert advice. For more information, call (800) 825-3636 or visit ACEfitness.org. AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EXERCISE, ACE and ACE logos are Registered Trademarks of American Council on Exercise.###

About ACE

Founded in 1985, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) is a nonprofit organization committed to America's health and wellbeing. Over the past 30 years, we have become an established resource for both fitness professionals and consumers, providing comprehensive, unbiased, scientific research impacting the fitness industry and validating ourselves as the country's trusted authority on fitness.

Today, ACE is the largest nonprofit health and fitness certification, education and training organization in the world with 58,000 certified professionals who hold more than 64,000 ACE certifications. With a long heritage in certification, education, training and public outreach, we are among the most respected fitness organizations in the industry and a resource consumers have come to trust for health and fitness education.